Scottish Labour Party names candidate for Ross, Skye and Lochaber seat at next Westminster General Election; John Erskine will contest seat against incumbent SNP member, Ian Blackford
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LABOUR has named its candidate to contest the Ross, Skye and Lochaber seat at the next General Election.
John Erskine, who went to school in Maryburgh and Dingwall, was selected at the latest meeting of the constituency Labour Party in Fort William on Saturday.
He will be contesting the seat against incumbent SNP MP Ian Blackford.
Born and raised within the area, Mr Erskine previously stood in the neighbouring Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross constituency at the 2015 General Election, as well as being a Highlands and Islands regional list candidate at the Scottish Parliament elections in 2016.
He was also a former senior adviser to the then Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale.
Following his selection Mr Erskine said: “It is an honour and a privilege to have been selected to stand for Scottish Labour in my home constituency of Ross, Skye and Lochaber and I look forward to running a positive campaign on Labour’s plan to put people before privilege, ending austerity and taking on the vested interests holding people back.
“Labour will do everything we can to stop a disastrous No Deal Brexit which the Tories want to sell off our rights and protections. The SNP are only focused on one thing, independence, and the Liberal Democrats have lost the trust of the Highland electorate by enabling austerity.
“Only Labour will rebuild Britain and invest in every community from Fort William to Dingwall to deliver a country and economy that works for the many, not the few.”
Local Labour Party chairman, Les Hood added: “I am delighted that John has been selected by our members to be our candidate at the upcoming General Election. I’ve campaigned with John on a number of elections and know that he is a hard working and dedicated candidate who will always put the Highlands first.
“I look forward to seeing John taking on the independence-obsessed SNP and the austerity-enabling Lib Dems and being elected as our next MP whenever the election comes.”
